Parquet Restoration London

Why Parquet Is Different

A Pattern Floor Punishes Shortcuts

On straight boards, the sanding machine runs with the grain. On parquet it can't: whichever way you push, half the blocks lie against you. So the sanding has to be planned. The levelling passes run diagonally across the pattern to flatten it without tearing the cross-grain blocks, and then the sequence steps finer and finer until the whole floor reads as one surface, not hundreds of little ones.

It's slower than sanding boards, and it should be. Rush a herringbone floor with a coarse belt and the machine writes its signature into every block that lay the wrong way.

The floor in this photo is original parquet we restored in Clapham; there's more of it on our Clapham page.

Original herringbone parquet in Clapham restored to a warm even finish by Howard Naish

Right Tool, Right Floor

The Resin Fill Between the Passes

Part-way through the sand, the whole pattern gets a resin fill: filler mixed on the job with the floor's own sanding dust, trowelled across every joint, then sanded off flush. That's Dean in the clip, working it across a finger mosaic. On glued-down parquet, resin is exactly the right tool, because the blocks can't move the way suspended floorboards do. On pine boards we reach for a flexible filler instead, and we've written up why the difference matters.

Dean filling a finger mosaic with resin, mixed with the floor's own dust so it sands back the same colour.

Then it comes back off: the resin sanded flush on a herringbone, staying only where it belongs, down in the joints.

The Fiddly Bits

Borders, Hearths and Thresholds

The edges of a pattern floor are where you can tell who did the work. Scribing herringbone cleanly around a hearth, holding a border dead straight down a long hallway, making a threshold meet tile or carpet without a clumsy cover strip: that's hand work, block by block, and it's the part we enjoy most.

The hearth in this photo is ours, from a herringbone job in Wimbledon. There's more pattern work on the Wimbledon and Dulwich pages, and a commercial-scale example on the Kensington page.

Fancy the pattern in a different shade while it's being restored? The staining page shows the twelve LOBA colours and the free patch test, and the floor visualiser will preview any of them on a photo of your own room.

Herringbone parquet scribed neatly around a fireplace hearth by Howard Naish in Wimbledon

Tired original herringbone parquet before restoration, worn finish and dulled blocks

Repairs Come First

Loose, Hollow or Missing Blocks

Original parquet was usually stuck down with bitumen, and after seventy-odd years bitumen dries out and lets go. Blocks lift, rock underfoot, or vanish entirely under decades of carpet. None of that is a reason to give up on the floor.

Before any sanding we lift the failed blocks, clean the old bitumen off the timber and the subfloor, and re-fix everything with modern parquet adhesive. Missing blocks are matched from reclaimed stock, species and size, so once the whole floor is sanded and finished together the repairs disappear into the pattern.

Loose and rocking blocks re-fixed before the machines run
Missing blocks matched from reclaimed timber, not new wood that never blends
Old bitumen dealt with properly, not glued over
One finish across old and new, so the floor reads as one

Straight Answers

Parquet Questions, Answered

Some of my blocks are loose or missing. Is that a problem?

No, it's normal, and it's the first thing we deal with. Loose blocks are lifted, cleaned of the old adhesive and re-fixed with modern parquet adhesive. Missing blocks are replaced with matched timber. All of it happens before the sanding, so by the time the machines run, the floor is solid.

There's black tar-like glue under my parquet. What is it?

Bitumen. It's how most original parquet was stuck down, and after seventy-odd years it dries out and lets go, which is why blocks start rocking. We deal with it on almost every parquet job: the old bitumen is cleaned off the failed blocks and the subfloor, and the blocks go back down in modern adhesive that holds.

Can you match replacement blocks to my old floor?

Yes. We match the species and the block size from reclaimed stock wherever possible, because old timber has the colour and patina new wood doesn't. Once the whole floor is sanded and finished together, a well-matched repair disappears into the pattern.

Which patterns do you restore?

Herringbone, chevron, basketweave and brick bond, with or without borders. The pattern changes how we sand it, not whether we can. If you're not sure what yours is called, send us a photo and we'll tell you.

Can parquet be stained a different colour?

Yes. Because a pattern floor has blocks running in different directions, it needs an even finer final sanding before stain, otherwise the colour takes differently block to block. We patch test the shortlist on your own floor first, exactly as we do on boards, so nothing is committed until you've seen the real thing.

My parquet is hidden under carpet. Is it worth uncovering?

Very often, yes: carpet has usually protected the parquet underneath it for decades. Lift a corner and have a look, or leave it to us. On the free site visit we'll tell you honestly what's under there, what it needs, and what it will cost to bring back.

Thirty Seconds, Four Boxes

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Parquet Restoration in London